MEXICAN HAYRIDE Lilian Baylis Studio

Ian Marshall Fisher has been staging Lost Musicals in concert form for over 19 years. Cole Porter’s Mexican Hayride hasn’t been seen since 1944. Now revived for the first time it is embarrassingly obvious why. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is about a con man on the run and it is really bad. But then Porter’s witty and sophisticated lyrics were, with the notable exception of Kiss Me Kate, always better than the trivial shows they were in. Mexican Hayride was primarily a vehicle for Bobby Clark, a popular comedian, and June Havoc, younger sister of the legendary Gypsy Rose Leigh, and without them, and without Michael Todd’s original lavish production and lots of beautiful girls, a revival doesn’t make any sense. One of the better moments is when Louise Gold sings There Must Be Someone For Me, one of those Porter “list’ lyrics, which were his trademark.